Click HERE to view Rev. Rogers’ guided meditation during the service.
I started the year — the first weekend, last weekend, or whenever the first weekend was. Seems amazing that it was already the 15th of January, right? Doing a workshop up in Cave Creek on living your best life. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Why didn’t I know that?” Well, go to revrichard.com, sign up for my meditation, and you will know everything I do. Literally everything I do.
Okay, so I did this workshop two full days on living your best life. And while I can’t give you the sum total of that whole two-day workshop, I do — over the next four weeks – want to give you a taste of each of the four principles that I taught.
Because I thought, “I’ve got four more weeks with you. What do I want to teach? What do I want to say? What’s going to come out of my mouth?” And I realized these four principles that I that I taught all weekend were really the things that get me the most excited right now. ThatI these four ideas really are the foundation of everything.
And so tonight I want to ask you the question: What does it mean to you to live your best life? What does it mean to you to live into this new year and really live the best version of you?
For many of us, that used to mean, like, having all the right stuff. Right? And you can use spiritual principles to create great stuff! Right? And, you know, probably all of us can think of a time when we use spiritual principles to create great stuff. But I really believe that, for many of us, our soul wants so much more than that. That you can only have so much stuff before your soul really hungers and thirsts for so much more.
So what do you want? Everything begins the moment you identify what it is that you really want. You know, you can go to the finest restaurant but, at some point, you literally have to order.
So tonight, we’re going to talk about identifying and deciding what you really want. You know, that’s one of the downsides to going to the Cheesecake Factory. [Congregants laugh] Sixteen pages. Sixteen pages! If you go to the Cheesecake Factory with somebody who has a problem making a decision, you’re there for at least three or four days. [Congregants laugh] Right? I mean, it’s painful.
So, what is it that you want? It all begins when you can identify what it is that you really want.
And I want to go a little bit deeper. That when you ask yourself, “What do you want?”, are you answering that question from your head, your heart, or your soul? Right? Are you answering that question because this is what your head wants, this is what your heart wants, or this is what your soul wants?
Because the reality is: they don’t always sing from the same page. Sometimes what your head want is control. You know, “I want to feel safe; I want control. I want to know what’s going to happen next.” And your head answers that question at one level. Your heart says, “I just want to be loved.” And your soul says, “I’m ready for a bigger risk. I’m ready to go in a completely different direction.”
And your head and your heart can be pointing this way and your soul says, “But this is where I want to go. We’ve already gone … we spent years going in that direction. We know how to do that life. We’ve lived that life a million times before. I don’t want to go there anymore. I’ve done that. I want to go over here and see who I would be if I lived over here.”
And we have to really get aligned with that idea that sometimes the conversation that’s happening in our head, our heart, and our soul is not the same conversation. And some of us are so used to listening to our head that we think it’s a big step to listen to our heart. And some of us who listen to our heart don’t always get that there’s a step below that where we actually start listening to our soul; to our intuition; to our divine wisdom. And then, over and over again, as we make that journey from our head to our heart down to our belly –down to our intuition, down to our soul — it’s a very different experience.
So is there a decision you’re looking at in your life right now? Are you asking that question to your head, your heart or your soul? When you think about this year — and what you want to create this year — are you asking that from your head, your heart, or your soul?
So, we’re going to do that right now. You ready? I want you to think about any decision that you have to make in your life. It can be about your future; It could be about work, family; it could be anything. And I want you to begin by moving all your energy up to your head: to your little brain, to where you think your thoughts. Move all your energy up here. And I want you to ask your head that question. And I want you to just hear what your head wants to say.
Sometimes it’s helpful to close your eyes. I promise nobody will poke you if you close your eyes. Right? Close your eyes and just ask your head: “What do you want? In this new year, what does your head want?”
And now I want you to move down to your heart. And I want you to ask your heart: “What does your heart want this year?”
And I want you to move down to your belly button, down to your tummy, down to your belly: your seat of power, your intuition. And ask your soul, “What does your soul want this year?”
And I want you to hear the difference. When you’re ready, I want you to come back to here. How many of you could hear the conversation going on in your head, your heart, and your soul, and could hear them almost in three separate different voices? That the way your head talks to you, the way your heart talks to you, and the way your soul talks to you: It sounds different to me in all three levels. Then my head can talk very fast, rapidly, you know; and my heart, man, it’s just … it’s sweeter. And then I go down to my soul and, man, I drop into the power.
And what I want you to see is that many of us are used to operating out of our head. And we make decisions easily, comfortably, out of our head. And There’s nothing wrong with that. But I just want you to see that that’s not all of who you are. That, as we embrace any situation — as we embrace any new moment — to be willing to ask your head and what your head says and what is your heart saying, but also to slow down and listen to your soul. Because we are taught that the soul speaks to us in the quietest voice. Our head can scream. Our heart can gush. And our soul waits for us to get quiet.
And then the question becomes: Which one should I pay the most attention to? What if they’re not all on the same page? What if my heart wants to go this way, my head wants to go this way, and my soul wants to go this way? And I believe in those moments we have to slow everything down. Because many of us have been operating from this chaotic shotgun approach to life: that one minute we’re heading this way, one minute we’re heading this way, and one minute we’re heading that way, and we don’t really get the results that we want.
What is the most powerful is that when your head and your heart begin to listen to your soul, and they begin to align. Because when your head, your heart, and your soul are all in alignment, you become the most powerful version of you. Because in that moment, the full power of God is moving through you as a singular voice, as a singular point of power. And you become the most powerful version of you.
But your head, your heart, and your soul have to be in alignment for you to be the most powerful version of you. You can’t always be going in every direction and know the power of God within you.
So if you had to pick five ideas, five possibilities to create in this new year, what would you pick? Five. That’s your homework for this week. I want you just to entertain five possibilities that you could create. Now, we’re not going to create all five. Well, we may … but we’re going to start with one. But I want you to begin to entertain the idea that you’re going to create five possibilities, okay? Three of them have to be possible. And two of them have to be impossible. Two of them have to be impossible! Because if we just continually create the possible, we are creating out of our ego. If we actually entertain the impossible, it requires God.
Reading from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland:
The Queen asked Alice how old she is. Alice answered, “I’m seven and a half exactly.”
“You needn’t say exactly,” said the queen remarked. “I can believe it without that. Now, I’ll give you something to believe. I’m just 101, five months and one day.”
“I can’t believe that,” said Alice.
“Can’t you,” said the queen, in a pitiful tone. “Try again. Draw a long breath; shut your eyes.”
Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” said Alice. “No one can believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it at least a half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’d believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
So, here’s the deal. Right? I want you to really hear what your head, your heart, and your soul are saying. And I want you to entertain the idea — the possibility — that what your soul is asking for this year is literally impossible. It feels impossible. It challenges you. It actually takes you to the edge of the life that you know. And that impossibility absolutely depends on you having a greater, deeper, more wonderful relationship with God. Because your ego can’t create the impossible, but God can.
Matthew 19:26, where Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
See, we can do the same year over and over again. Has everybody had that experience?
Where you literally lived the same year over and over again until you were just sick to your stomach? Right? Where you’ve just knocked out the same experience so many times, you just know how it’s going to go? “This is how January goes. And then I go into February. And then I’m depressed by March. And by April, I feel a little better and …”
And this is how it goes! Because we’re actually creating the same thing that our mind tells us we’re supposed to create. And we’re not embracing anything that’s big enough for our soul to truly take on.
And what I want you to see tonight is: I believe – truly, deeply, profoundly — that we are here to create the impossible. That your soul is ready for that. Your soul wants that, and it’s the only thing that’s going to truly satisfy your soul.
On May 25th, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a joint session of Congress a dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the moon before the end of the decade. President Kennedy said this:
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before the decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project will be more exciting, more impressive to mankind, more important. None will be so difficult or so expensive to accomplish.”
See, there was a time in our nation when we actually took on impossible projects, or we didn’t back away from doing that which looks absurd and unbelievable. And that’s the world I grew up in! That’s the world I knew. That’s the world I learned to believe in — was a world where people, leaders, stepped forward and they didn’t tell you what was probable. They invited you to step into a world that was not yet, and invited us to believe in something even greater. And I think sometimes we’ve lost that. We’ve lost that spirit that allows is to step into the impossible and see what’s possible for us.
So what if, this week, your homework is to entertain the idea: What’s three possible things you could create this year? And what if you listen to your soul and ask your soul what your soul wants to create? And what if what your soul wants to create looks impossible to your rational mind? Would you be willing to entertain it anyway? Would you be willing to open the possibility that you could actually live this into this year and do that which has never been done before?
Matthew 14:22:
“Then he made his disciples get in the boat and go before him to the other side.”
Now, I love the times when Jesus is protecting his disciples. I find it so sweet, right? It just, it just touches my heart. Because his disciples – his “guys,” right? They really believe that it was their job to protect him. And that every time a big crowd appeared, or it got a little iffy or a little sketchy, his guys would step in and they would want to remove him from that situation.
And this is one of those times when, in front of a big crowd, he made sure they got out safely, because he knew he could get out. And he was more worried about their safety than his own. So he said to them … He made the disciples get into a boat and go over to the other side while he dismissed the crowd.
Has anybody ever been in a crowd that turned ugly? I mean, it’s scary. I mean it is; it’s scary. So Jesus made sure that his guys were in the boat and they were going to the other side, and then he was going to go back and just release the people because he knew his guys were safe:
“And after that, he dismissed the crowds and he went up to the mountain by himself to pray. And when the evening came, he was alone. But the boat by this time was many furlongs distance from the land and beaten by the waves, and the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch that night, he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified saying, ‘It’s a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately he spoke to them saying, ‘Take heart, It is I; have no fear.’
And Peter answered him and said, ‘Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you in the water.’ And he said to him, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on water and he came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind and he saw the waves, he was afraid, and he began to sink. And he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ And Jesus immediately reached out his hand, caught him and said to him, ‘O, man of little faith, why do you doubt?’
And when they had gotten in the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshipped him saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
I love this! Because I want you to see your boat. Like, we all have our boat, right? We all have the life that we know. We all have those experiences that we count on: where everything looks normal; we’ve got our safety gear; we’ve got all the stuff that we need … our retirement package is right over here. And we have everything that we need to be safe, right? We got it all here; it’s in the boat!
And yet, something in Peter’s soul said, “It’s time to get out of the boat and see what’s possible.” And he literally said, “If you tell me I can do this, I’m going to get out and do this.” And he literally starts walking on water until … when? He looked down! And until he looked down, he was gorgeous! He was fabulous! He was living the dream! He was walking on water!
And it’s the same for all of us. If you make a commitment to do the impossible in your life, and you keep your eye focused on the impossible, it will be amazing what you do. If you begin to look at all your fears, and what your family and friends are saying is possible, or what you should be doing … the moment you start looking at all your fears, what begins to happen? We begin to sink.
What if, this year, you took on at least one impossible project that will require that you believe in God; that you put God to the test; and that you see what’s possible for you?
See, I believe we have come to a time when we need to challenge ourselves again. Not with the status quo, not with the past, but with the possibility of the future.
Nelson Mandela said this: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
A French proverb says, “To believe a thing is impossible is to make it so.”
G.M. Trevelyon said this: “Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do the very thing that God wants to happen.”
How many of you … anybody remember the old Dick Tracy cartoons? Anybody old enough to do that? In Dick Tracy cartoons, where was his phone? No; no; it was on his wrist, right? It was … How many of you have an object on your wrist right now that is talking constantly to your phone? Anybody?
Anybody remember — it was only in the 60s. Anybody remember Get Smart? Where was his phone? In a shoe, right? Not the best choice! [Congregants laugh] Right? I mean that was funny about it, because he always had to be taking his shoe off to answer the call, right? And it’s funny.
But all those things that seemed impossible 50, 60, 70 years ago are now status quo. Many of us don’t even have house phones anymore! Can you imagine a time when we wouldn’t have a landline? There was a time when we were so excited just 100 years ago to have a landline! Within 100 years, we’ve gone from wanting a landline to actually no longer needing them. Because we’ve got this little thing that is constantly annoying us. [Congregants laugh] Right? The impossible is made possible.
Christopher Reeve said this: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then we summon the will, and they become done.”
Salvador Dali said, “It is either easy or impossible.”
Napoleon … You’ve got to throw a narcissist in every once in a while … [Congregants laugh] Napoleon [Bonaparte] said it this way: “The word impossible is not even in my dictionary.”
Isn’t that adorable? I love narcissists, right? Because they just … they bring so much joy right? [Congregants murmur]
I’m going to finish with Anthony Robbins: “What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of true capacity. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”
So, are you ready for your homework this week? We’ve got four weeks together. Four weeks! I want this to be the most useful, beneficial time in this spiritual time that we have together.
So, this week, you’re going to come up with five possibilities for your life. Three of them are possible; you know you could do it. You might have to work a little harder, a little faster. You might have to be a little bit smarter. But they’re in the realm of possible. You know you could do it. It might be a stretch, but you know you could do it.
But two of these things: I want them to be where you go, “I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve got nothing.” Like, two of these things: I want them to require you to actually have to believe in God, listen to God, and do what you’re guided to do. Not do it from your ego, not do it from your personality, not do it from what you know how to do. But pick two things for this year that would require you to have a greater, deeper, more wonderful relationship with God and to see what is possible — truly, deeply, profoundly possible — in your life.
And you’re like, “I can’t do the impossible!”
Yeah, you can! But not because you do it, but because God can do it through you.
So, next week, if you come with your five, we’re going to talk about the “How.” Because it really would be unkind of me to say, “All right; pick two impossible things, and I’ll see you later. Good luck! God bless you, and let me know how it works out for you! God bless you all! Thank you for coming!” [Congregants laugh] Right? I mean, that’s just not kind!
So, next week, we’re going to talk about the “How.” Because the how … How many of you would like to know how? Like, it seems logical, right? If you invite people into the impossible, you should actually tell them how to do it!
So, next week, we’re going to talk about the “How.” And even if you can’t be there, we’re all digital, so you can just watch it online. You ready? Pray with me.
I invite you to open your mind, your heart, your soul to the activity of God. And I want you to put life to the test this week and imagine a possibility that is greater than you believe in. Imagine a possibility that’s outside your belief system; that you deem impossible. And I want you to begin to entertain at least two impossible ideas this week.
“If I could do anything, if I had a magic wand, if I had a genie in the pot, what would I want? What would be my impossible thing?”
And then I want you to come up with three others, just for grins. And I want you to really feel the activity of God that’s at work in your soul this night to reveal the impossible to you. That you didn’t come into this world to do what was regular and normal. You came into this world to stretch your soul, to know God in greater ways than you ever have before.
So tonight, we rejoice; we give thanks; and we listen to the activity of God that wants to be made known through each one of us. So, in the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, we give thanks. And so it is. Amen.